


Summer Murder in the Rain

by Small_Hobbit



Series: Oxford Tales [5]
Category: Lewis (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-19
Updated: 2018-05-24
Packaged: 2019-05-09 02:13:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14707170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Small_Hobbit/pseuds/Small_Hobbit
Summary: A dead body in the garden of a stately home, discovered by language students, means DI James Hathaway has to work with colleagues from the Metropolitan Police to catch the murderer.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> My thanks to my long-suffering beta Okapi.

“Earlier today a body was discovered in the gardens of a local stately home by two students from one of the city language schools.  Oxford police are currently investigating, but have so far not released any further details.”

Robbie switched off the television and sighed.  A short item at the end of the local news no doubt meant by the time James arrived home he would be tired, stressed, and, from the look of the weather, wet.  It would be a good idea to ensure he had a hot meal ready; it might be summer, but it wasn’t salad weather.


	2. Day Two

James arrived in his office early to find a pile of reports, a message from Innocent telling him there would be a meeting at 9.30, and his sergeant bearing a cup of coffee.  James accepted the coffee gratefully, pulled a face at the note and an even longer face at the pile of reports. 

His sergeant laughed.

James smiled, then said, “I presume these are all the interview transcripts with the language students?”

“Yes, sir.  I glanced through the majority of them last night, but nothing was flagged up as being of significance.  I was planning on going through them thoroughly this morning to see if I there was anything which had been missed or might be worth following up.”

“Good.  Were the interviews done in English?”

“Most of them were.  A few were in the students’ first language, in which case they’ve been translated and the original has been attached at the back for reference.  From my quick look through them, I would say some of the others should have been interviewed in their first language, too.  I suspect we may be losing details.”

James nodded.  When his previous sergeant had transferred out, James had asked if Tomlinson could be assigned back to him, and had been delighted when Innocent had agreed to his request.  He had been impressed by Tomlinson’s competence, and the ease with which she had learned to work with him.

James said, “Make a note of those you think it would be of benefit to interview again.  We shouldn’t have a problem finding someone who can interpret for us; between them, the colleges cover all the major modern languages and a good number of the more minor ones, too.”

“I will.”

“Has the body been identified yet?”

“No, sir.  Details have gone to Interpol, and all the usual places have been contacted, but as yet we’ve heard nothing back.”

“Which means I have very little to take to my meeting with Innocent.  One dead man, as yet unknown, who arrived at a popular tourist attraction in the company of person or persons, also unknown.  Who wandered with them off the main paths, where he was stabbed and his body pushed under a rhododendron bush, for reason unknown.  His assailant, or assailants, then departed again, without being noticed.”

James took out a notepad and drew a rapid spider diagram.  The squiggles he used would be of no help to anyone else, but they would serve initially to provide him with some mental order to advance the case.  As he did so, he added pointers from recent emails.  Every so often he asked Tomlinson something, jotting down a further note in response to her reply.

Just before 9.30, James picked up his notepad and left for his meeting with Innocent.  When he arrived he found two other officers already in Innocent’s office.

“Thank you for joining us, Hathaway.  This is DI Maguire from the Met’s Serious Crimes Department.  Her team have been tracking a group of three suspected human-traffickers, who had been heading into our area, but recently lost their trail.  It is possible the deceased is one of the group.  Following this meeting, I have arranged for her to go to the morgue to see if she can identify him.”

“Yes, ma’am.”  James could feel the investigation slipping out of his hands.

DCI John Garrett, the fourth person in the room, then spoke.  “CS Innocent has asked me to take charge of the investigation.  If the deceased is known to DI Maguire, they have requested us to continue working with them.  Our local knowledge will be extremely useful, and most of her team are already committed in London, so having some extra manpower would be helpful.  If, on the other hand, that is not the case, I will remain in charge until the body can be identified, at which point we will reconsider.  I trust you will have no problem with this.”

“No, sir, not at all.”  James hoped his relief wasn’t too obvious.  He liked Garrett, enjoyed working with him, and found him a very competent officer.

“Excellent,” Innocent said.  “Can you fill us in on some of the newer information?  I presume you’ve received the preliminary post mortem report.”

“The PM confirmed death by stabbing.  It occurred no earlier than half an hour after the gates opened, and he’d been dead at least a quarter of an hour when the body was found.  We have established he wasn’t an employee, and since there were no cars left in the visitors’ car park at the end of the day, we assume he arrived with someone else.  SOCO have found signs of a slight struggle, but I think we can assume the victim wasn’t aware of any danger until the last minute.  So he must have known his assailant.”

Maguire nodded.  “Which, sadly, tells us very little.  I think the next step will be for me to view the body.  After which, DI Hathaway, may I join you in your office?”

“Of course.  Do you want me to ask my sergeant to accompany you?”

“No, thank you.  That won’t be necessary.  All I want to do at this stage is establish whether this is one of the group we were following.  If it isn’t, then we’ll need to cast around and see if we can pick them up again.  If it is then we can take it from there.”

They stood up, and Innocent dismissed them with a nod. 

Hathaway returned to his office and told Tomlinson what had transpired in the meeting.

“How would you like me to proceed, sir?”

“We’ll continue as we would normally.  We’re still going to need as much information as possible.  And if we are going to re-interview some of the students, it would be as well to do so as soon as possible.”  James looked at Tomlinson.  “There’s something troubling you, isn’t there?”

“I’ve been reading through the interviews where they were translated.  Some of the translations sound almost identical to each other.  I glanced at the attachments, and although I’m not very good at foreign languages, I know enough to cope with the basics in several European languages, and I’m not convinced the translations are accurate.”

“May I see?”

James had started comparing the various translations when there was a knock on the door.  He shouted ‘Come in,’ and DI Maguire entered.

“Well,” she said, “there’s good news and bad news.  The good news is I have been able to identify the corpse.  The bad news is he’s not one of the three we were tracking.”

“Right,” James said.  “Is there a connection between them?”

Maguire didn’t reply immediately, her attention having been caught by the pile of interview transcriptions lying on James’ desk.

“Are those witness statements from yesterday?” she asked.

“Yes, Sergeant Tomlinson,” he indicated Tomlinson, and she and Maguire nodded to each other, “was surprised at how similar the translations are for a number of the interviews.  And I’m inclined to agree with her.”

James thought the grin which spread across Maguire’s face was surprisingly shark-like.  “At least two of the three we’re following are known to have connections with some of the English language schools.  May I have a look?”

“Do you have a preference for language?”

“French and Italian are my strongest.”

James flicked through the sheets and passed one over to Maguire.  She read it through, comparing the original with the translation and nodding as she did so.

“It misses all the nuances of the language, which is perhaps understandable, but in a couple of places I’d say there was an actual contradiction,” she said.

“We were planning on re-interviewing some of the students who had given statements in English where we thought they might be clearer speaking their own tongue.  It sounds as if we should also be re-interviewing those who gave their interviews in their native language.”

“Yes, that would make a lot of sense.  I had wondered whether the death was connected with the men we’re following, but the more I hear, the more convinced I am it is.  I shall go and speak with your DCI and explain the situation.  And if you were to arrange the interviews for sometime this afternoon, I’m sure I and my colleagues would be only too delighted to help.”

“That would be helpful.  Which languages can you provide?”

“Apart from myself, DS Turner speaks Spanish and Portuguese, and DC Kowalski speaks Polish, Russian and German.”  Maguire stood up.  “Thank you, both, for your assistance,” she said, before leaving the office.

After she had gone James turned to Tomlinson, “Are you able to arrange the interviews, and sort out both who we need to see again?  And let me know if we need to bring in anyone else or if we haven’t covered any languages.”

“Yes, sir.  I’ll get on to it right away.”

***

Just before lunchtime, James received a call from Garrett asking him to come to his office.  He told Tomlinson where he was going and added she should go and grab some lunch whilst she had the chance.

“Do you want me to bring you anything back, sir?”

“No, I can nip out for something myself, thank you.”

James wasn’t surprised to see Maguire also in Garrett’s office, although he was surprised at the paper bags from the local sandwich shop sitting on Garrett’s desk.

Garrett obviously saw his surprise, for he said, “I didn’t want to waste time, so I asked DI Maguire if she would mind stepping out and buying some sandwiches.  Hopefully she’s found something you like.”

“Thank you, sir.”  James nodded his appreciation to Maguire, who shrugged and grinned back.

Garrett indicated they should start eating and then began to speak.  “Following my conversation with DI Maguire and given the situation, I have requested we conduct a joint investigation with the Met.  My opposite number is in agreement and we shall therefore proceed in that way.  The only disadvantage is that with the builders currently working in part of the station, we have limited desk space.  I, therefore, need to ask you to share your office with DI Maguire.  We should be able to accommodate DC Kowalski in the main CID office.”

“What about the sergeant?” James asked.

“All things being considered it seemed best if DS Turner returned to London.”  Garrett didn’t elucidate further, but James caught a glance between him and Maguire which implied space wasn’t the only reason.  “I shall have to ask Tomlinson if she can act as sergeant for both of you.”

“That is, if she has no objections,” Maguire said.

“I’m sure she won’t,” James replied.  “However, we were setting up some Spanish interviews for your sergeant this afternoon.  I speak some Spanish, but I’m not sure whether it would be sufficient in this situation.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem.  I speak Spanish, so I can do those as well.”

James and Maguire returned to his office to find Tomlinson finishing her lunch.  She put her sandwich down, but James said, “Carry on eating your lunch, and I’ll explain the situation.”

When he had done so, Tomlinson stood up.  “I’ll clear my stuff, ma’am, and you can have my desk.”

“No, stay where you are,” Maguire replied.  “You’ve got everything to hand; I can use the side table.  There’s plenty of room for my laptop.”

“If you’re sure, ma’am.  I’ll go and get you a chair.”

James and Maguire were discussing their allocation of tasks by the time Tomlinson returned.  She had brought with her another officer, who was carrying the chair.

“Sir,” Tomlinson said, “This is DC Kowalski.  He was wondering what you would like him to do.”

James nodded towards Maguire, who said, “DS Tomlinson has scheduled the interviews to start from four o’clock.  The students are due to return from their excursions by half past three, and Inspector Hathaway and I have agreed we don’t want to give anyone time to coach the students for their interviews, so we intend arriving at that time.”

Tomlinson and Kowalski nodded, and Maguire continued, “Having been a student here myself, I know Oxford well, but it would be helpful, Sergeant Tomlinson, if you could give Kowalski a quick tour of the city.  You won’t have time to show him exactly where the body was found, but if you could manage to drive past the site that would be helpful.  And then we can meet you at the language school in time for the interviews.”

In the time before they were meeting, Maguire filled James in on the case her team were following, and between them they agreed a plan of campaign which utilised the strength of both teams. 

When it was time to leave, James drove them both to the destination.  Tomlinson and Kowalski arrived shortly afterwards, and James was pleased to notice the two of them seemed to be getting on well together.  He was less pleased to sense the resentment from the language school staff when he announced the interviews would be conducted in the students’ native tongues.

“But surely that won’t be necessary,” the principal complained.  “All this was done yesterday.”

“We have found it’s often the nuances which assist us most,” James replied.  He smiled.  “And it would be wrong not to make use of my colleagues’ expertise.”

Maguire and Kowalski had the benefit of the original interviews, and by concentrating on certain areas which James and Maguire had settled on, the interviews progressed rapidly.  James used the time to speak to the staff whilst Tomlinson chatted to some of the students who were waiting their turn to be interviewed.

Once they had finished, they returned to the James’ office. 

“I realise we’ll need full transcriptions of the interviews,” James said, “but in the meantime, can we just make bullet points of the relevant facts?  There’s a few areas I want us to investigate further based on what I learnt from the staff, so I’ll list them.”

“That sounds sensible,” Maguire replied.  “There was nothing which jumped out at me, so it’s going to be a case of comparing everything.”

“I’ve got some things which came up when I was chatting with the students.  It’s not officially recorded, but some of it might be relevant,” Tomlinson added.

“Good,” James said.  “Unless there are any objections, I would suggest we make our notes now and begin the comparisons tomorrow morning.”

***

By the time James made it home, his head was reeling with all the possible connotations of the case.  He hadn’t thought he was particularly hungry, but the smell of hot food as he opened the front door rapidly changed his mind.

“Have I got time for a quick shower?” he called out to Robbie.

“Of course, I thought you’d probably want one.  You’ve got about fifteen minutes.”

“Great!”

Feeling refreshed from the shower, James took his place at the dining table.  “Tell me about your day,” he said as they began to eat.

He let Robbie’s description of the day’s activities, which involved going to the library, doing some weeding, and talking to the cat, wash over him. 

James was aware Robbie would glance at him between finishing one anecdote and launching into the next; he smiled at the pause, but offered nothing, not being ready to share any of his own day.

It wasn’t until they were sitting side by side on the sofa that James said, “I’ve gained a temporary colleague from the Met, together with one of her constables.”

“Is this going to cause you problems?” Robbie asked.

“Not particularly.  She’s having to share my office and my sergeant, but it could be a lot worse.”

“I’m surprised she doesn’t have a sergeant of her own.”

“She did, but he’s returned to London.  I didn’t get the impression she was particularly mourning his loss.  And Tomlinson and Kowalski, the DC, have established a rapport, which is all to the good.”

“I presume she’s staying in a hotel.  If you want to invite her over to eat, just let me know.”

“What, you’re offering to cook?” 

“No, I’m offering to defrost something you’ve pre-prepared.”

James laughed.  “That sounds about right.  I’m afraid there’s nothing much else I can tell you.”

“I understand; I’m no longer a serving officer.”

“It’s more that we haven’t found out very much.  Actually, there is something you might be able to do if you were up for it.”

“Fire away!”

“I’m convinced that the site where our victim was killed was chosen for a reason, but I can’t get at what it is.  I could go back, but I’m too close to the events to be dispassionate, and the same goes for Tomlinson.  Maguire might spot something, but she did her degree here and already knows the area, so again, I’m not convinced she’d notice anything.”

“The same would be true for me, then.”

“But it will be new for Kowalski.  You know the way around the gardens quite well, so if you went with him he wouldn’t have to waste time looking at maps, but he might see what we’re missing, especially since he knows the London end of the connection.”

“You want to have the outsider’s point of view?  That could work.”

“Would you do it?”

“Of course, so long as no-one has any objections.”

“Excellent.  Could you pick him up about 9.30 from the station?  I’ll text you to confirm whether or not we’ll be going ahead with the plan.”

“No problem.”


	3. Day Three

Robbie received the text from James at half past eight the following morning, confirming not only the trip was on but that the suggestion had been received very positively.

He arrived at the police station car park just before half past nine, and he saw Tomlinson and Kowalski heading towards his car a couple of minutes later.

Tomlinson made the introductions and then passed over a folder holding a number of sheets of paper, saying, “Inspector Hathaway is tied up in a meeting at the moment and asked me if I’d bring these out to you and answer any questions you might have.”

Robbie glanced at the papers.  “It looks like you’ve given me a brochure,” he said.

Tomlinson laughed.  “Using the photos was a lot easier than describing parts of the gardens in words.”

Robbie looked through the material, which covered several areas of the gardens which had been deemed to have possible interest.  He grinned.  “And brochures tend to be more accurate than ‘bush with large red flowers’.  I would have expected ‘a magnificent specimen of a brightly coloured camellia’.  Not to mention promotional material usually feature blue skies, and these seem rather grey.”

“It was a very wet day!”

“I remember it!” 

Robbie nodded at Kowalski who had got into the car.  “I assume if I have any further questions I can contact you.”

“Of course.  It might be best to phone the station, and then one of us should be able to answer.  Inspector Hathaway may be in and out this morning.”

“That’s fine.  We should be back by lunchtime.”

Having left the car park, Robbie said to Kowalski, “From the notes, I understand the idea is for you to gain a general impression of the gardens before viewing where the body was found.”

“Yes, sir, that’s correct.”

“I’m no longer a serving officer, you can call me Robbie.”

Kowalski made an indistinct half-grunt.

“Or if it’s easier, you can use ‘sir’.  Just don’t call me Mr Lewis, I feel old enough as it is.”

Kowalski laughed.  “Thank you.”

Robbie spent the rest of the journey giving Kowalski a brief history of the house and gardens, which had originally been built in the 1590s, but had undergone significant changes since.

Having parked in the large car park, they followed the plan and notes which Tomlinson had given Robbie.  Kowalski gave the impression of idly wandering around, but Robbie sensed he was extremely alert and taking in everything he saw.  Every so often he would take a photo with his phone, jotting down brief details in his notebook as he did so. 

Robbie enjoyed the slow walk.  It was a couple of months since he and James had last visited the gardens, and he was delighted to have an opportunity to see the summer flowering plants.  At one point, seeing a gardener tending some azaleas, he went over to speak to him and came away with some ideas as to how to encourage his own plants.

Finally, Robbie said, “Are you ready to see where the body was found?”

“Yes, sir!”

They approached the area, which was still cordoned off with blue and white police tape.  The officer on duty gave Robbie a nod of recognition, and having checked Kowalski’s warrant card, raised the tape for them.  Robbie was ready to stand back, since he no longer had any authority as a police officer, but Kowalski said, “Inspector Hathaway said it was okay for you to come through and that you might spot something which had been missed.”

They both looked round, but there was nothing particular to be gained.  Forensics had already made a detailed search, and it was agreed the man had been killed on the spot before his body was pushed underneath the bush.

They left the cordoned area, and Kowalski said, “Why there?  It’s not on the main path, but visitors do come over to look at the plants.  And the body wasn’t even particularly hidden, so the killers must have known it would be found that day.  Even while killing him there must have been a risk of being disturbed.”

“If we assume he was killed shortly after the grounds were opened, then it’s unlikely any visitors would have reached this area for half an hour at least.  Most people take the main path first and then begin to explore the rest of the grounds.  But I agree, there would have been other places which would have been more suitable.”

“So why didn’t they?”

“Shall we see if we can find out?”

Kowalski grinned and looked at the plan of the grounds which Robbie held out.  Between them they decided on three locations which would be sufficiently secluded for the killers and with enough foliage to properly hide the body.  They discounted anything on the far side of the house, since it seemed unlikely the killers would have wanted to walk that far.  In addition, the area was used for the rare breeds cattle to graze, and there was a heightened chance of being seen by members of the ground staff since they would need to pass the walled garden and greenhouses.

They ruled out the first location very quickly.  Although on the plan it had looked possible, the elevation of the path meant it wasn’t as secluded as they had thought, and there was a very high risk the killers might be seen. 

The second location seemed much more promising.  It was hidden from any casual passers-by due to a fence, which Robbie remembered being used as part of the kitchen garden before that had been relocated.  There were still a number of fruit bushes growing there, but it was unlikely any visitor would want to see them, and they required little care from the ground staff.

They took a careful look at the area around the fruit bushes and agreed that it should have had considerably more potential for the killers than the site they had chosen. 

The space behind the bushes was being taken over by brambles, and Kowalski turned to Robbie and said, “Is it worth checking that out?”

“Might as well, while we’re here.  There may be something of interest.”

Kowalski picked up a stick and began poking around.  Suddenly, he said, “I can see something.”

He bent down to look more closely and said something which Robbie took to be a Polish swear word.  Cautiously, Robbie made his way over to see what had attracted Kowalski’s attention.

By the time he’d made it through the brambles, Kowalski was on the phone.

***

Robbie and Kowalski didn’t have long to wait before they were joined by a number of uniformed officers.  James, Maguire and Tomlinson arrived shortly afterwards, and Laura Hobson wasn’t far behind.

As they waited for Laura to make her initial investigations, Maguire showed James a photo of a teenager on her phone.  “We shall need to wait for formal identification,” she said, “but this definitely looks like Anna Bauer.  She came to do an English language course last month, then failed to return home.”

Laura stretched as she stood up.  “Death was by strangulation.  At this stage I can’t be definite as to the time of death.  She’s been dead a few days, probably no longer than five or six days.”

“Was she killed here?” James asked.

“My initial response would be yes.  There are marks on her arms consistent with being forced to go with someone, so she may well have been forced here and then killed.”

“So, different MO from Tuesday’s body, but in all likelihood still connected,” James said.

“Especially since it answers the question of why Fischer, our second victim, was killed where he was,” Maguire added.  “A second body in one place would have added to the risk of the first being found, and the longer they could delay the finding of Anna’s body the better as far as they were concerned.”

“I imagine you’ll be wanting to bring more of your team down here now.”

Maguire chewed a fingernail thoughtfully.  “Not quite yet.  We know the missing girls were all, like Anna, at language courses in London.  That has to remain the starting point.  I think the three we were tailing got wind of what Fischer was doing and followed him down here.  For all we know, they’ve already returned to London.  I’ll speak to my boss and see what he thinks, but for the moment I don’t think it will be necessary.”

Having thanked Robbie, James and the rest of the team headed back to the station. 

Once there, whilst Maguire phoned her boss, Tomlinson hunted through her notes.  After about a minute, she found what she was looking for.

“When I was chatting with some of the students yesterday, a couple of them mentioned something about Anna’s boyfriend.  Freja, one of the two who found the body, had told them about the trainers he was wearing, and they remembered the boyfriend had a similar pair.  Could it be the same Anna?”

“That sounds highly possible,” James said.  “It will be worth following up.”

At that point, Maguire returned.  “My boss is in agreement,” she said.  “He wants us to find out what we can about Anna’s movements.  He’s pulling in more people to help search for the other girls and has asked if we can be alert for anything our end.”

“I’ll let Garrett know; he can put out a message to uniform.  In the meantime, Tomlinson has found a possible lead.”

Maguire listened to the details and nodded.  “It would be best if Tomlinson went back on her own and spoke to the students again.  You can take a picture of Anna and find out what they know.  They’ll talk more freely to you than to one of us.”

“If I go now, I should be able to catch them before they go off for their trip this afternoon,” Tomlinson said.

“Good idea,” James said, “and we can continue trying to make sense of what else we’ve got here.”

***

Tomlinson was back just over an hour later.  “Some of the students had definitely met Anna Bauer.  A group of them had gone to the Costa last Saturday afternoon because it was free time, and Anna had come over to join them.   Apparently, she’d told them she’d been doing a language course like them but had decided to stay in England.  And she’d told them if anyone was interested she might be able to help.”

“That’s the same sort of line we’ve been hearing about in London,” Maguire said.  “Carry on.”

“Most of the group weren’t interested, but a couple of the girls continued to chat with Anna until she left them to join her boyfriend, which was when they spotted the trainers.”

“I hope you warned them against trying to stay in England after their course,” James said.

“I was going to, but I didn’t get the chance.  One of the course leaders came over and hustled the students away.  He certainly didn’t seem happy to see me there.”

“In view of Anna’s death I think we would be fully justified in going back this evening and requesting we speak formally to the students, warning them against unofficially prolonging their stays in England,” Maguire said.  “In fact, if it were possible I’d like to do the same at some of the other language schools.”

James nodded.  “Tomlinson, could you see what you can arrange?  Apart from maybe preventing another student from following Anna’s fate, we might be lucky and get some more information.  It’s quite possible Anna spoke to other students at the weekend as well.”

“It will probably best if we work in our pairs,” Maguire added.  “The DI to do the serious talk bit, the other to sit at the back and watch reactions.”

They spent the rest of the afternoon comparing the statements they had taken from the students the previous day.  A couple of avenues which James had thought worth pursuing had petered out; there were small discrepancies in the statements, but nothing more than could be expected when a number of people are asked to describe the same event.  This left them with two anomalies, which they started to discuss.

James’ first question was, “Why is Louis Dubois adamant Foster was not with the party when they began their tour of the gardens and yet no-one else says he was missing, and there are three people who say Foster was there?”

“Foster was generally at the back of the group, rounding up stragglers, so it’s possible Louis, who’s quite short, just didn’t see him,” Maguire suggested.

“But Louis is one of those who tended to be at the back, because he spent a lot of time reading notices,” Tomlinson said.  “Two or three times in the interviews when the students were in small groups someone said, ‘And we had to wait for Louis to catch up, again.’”

“And,” Kowalski was flicking through the papers, “I’ve got it.  Foster said at that point ‘I was at the back following Louis Dubois and Maria Lopez.’”

“So what did Maria have to say?” James asked.

Maguire laughed.  “Maria had no idea who was where.  We only know which group she was with because the other students told us.  She is what my mother used to refer to as ‘away with the fairies.’”

“In which case,” James said, “Tomlinson, have a quiet word with Louis and see if he can remember when Foster joined them.”

“Yes, sir.”

“The other question we need to address,” Maguire said, “is where everyone was when Daan Visser and Freja Nielsen came running back having found the body.”

“I’ve been giving this some thought,” Kowalski said.  He unrolled a large sheet of white paper on which were various coloured dots.  “The green dots are the students and staff who everyone agrees about, and there’s been no discrepancy in their locations.  The blue dots are ones where the majority are agreed.  We know some people changed their answers between the first interview and the second; I’ve taken the second answer where it’s clear they were covering up for each other the first time round.”  He pointed to a group of dots.  “These three had gone for a smoke and these two,” he pointed again, “were doing what Daan and Freja had gone to do, but without the dead body.”

James and Maguire looked at the plan and nodded.  “Carry on,” James said.

“The orange dots are for those we have no definite proof about, but from what’s been said, seem consistent.  A whole group had been in the shop and wandered out, but for our purposes, I think their exact location is irrelevant.  Which leaves four red dots for those where the statements contradict each other.  I suspect one student, Fabian Meier, was taking drugs somewhere.  From the evasive nature of the replies from the other students, it was almost certainly something illegal, but probably not pertinent to this investigation.”

“We’ll keep him in mind though,” James said.  “Anyone like that could be vulnerable to blackmail.”

“And three members of staff, including Foster.”

“It sounds like we need to have a further conversation with Mr Foster,” James said.  He glanced at his watch.  “Time we were off.  Unless there are any objections, I suggest we meet up at the pub afterwards to discuss our findings.”

When James and Tomlinson arrived at the language school, the students had been gathered together in one of the rooms.

“Is everyone here?” James asked.

“Yes,” the tutor sighed.  “I hope you won’t be very long.”

James ignored the comment.  “Sergeant, could you go round with a sheet of paper so we know all the students have been present and heard what I’ve got to say.”

He looked directly at Tomlinson, who nodded to show she’d understood the sub-text.  They didn’t want anyone signing to say one of the other students had been present when they weren’t.

As she went round, two of the girls leant forward and said, “Liesl’s not here.  She wasn’t feeling very well and has gone to bed.  It’s that time …”

Tomlinson replied, “That’s okay.  I’ll make a note of it.”  She thought it likely the girls were telling the truth, but she would follow it up anyway, especially since the tutor had been adamant everyone was there.

When James had finished his talk, the students left the room.  James could see whilst the majority had treated it like any other talk they’d been given, that is, of limited importance, a few were looking thoughtful.  They were more likely to speak to Tomlinson than him, so James decided he would follow up the three staff member they’d identified earlier and leave her to chat to them.

Accordingly, he found Tomlinson , told her what he wanted and then asked, “Were all the students present?”

“All except Fabian Meier, and Liesl who wasn’t feeling well.  Probably best to check with one of the female staff about her.”

“Will do.”

James spotted one of the staff he wanted to see and called out to her, “Mrs Cordwell!”

She spun round, her expression reminding him strongly of Laura Hobson’s when he brought her a further complication to an already difficult case.

“I’ve got a couple of questions I’d like to ask,” he said.

She sighed.  “Go on then.”

“There were two students who weren’t at my talk.  Could you tell me where they were?”

“Liesl was in bed.  She was suffering from bad stomach cramps.  If it’s necessary, I can arrange for her to see you later.  Who was the other one?”

“I’m sure that won’t be needed.  Her friends can pass on my message.  The other student was Fabian Meier.”

She sighed again.  “He could have been anywhere.  If I had my way, he’d be back home by now.”

“Why’s that?”

She looked warily at him.

“I’m a police officer investigating a murder.  His behaviour may have no relevance to the case, but it would be useful to know since it might do.”

“Fabian is taking drugs.  We have a strict policy regarding drug taking, but it isn’t being enforced.  I, and one or two of the other staff believe he may also be supplying drugs to some of the other students, but we have no proof.  I was speaking to our head office about it when Freja and Daan found the dead body.”

James nodded.  “Which is why, when you were asked your whereabouts you told us you were phoning your head office, but didn’t specify what you were talking about.”

“Exactly.  They promised me things would be sorted and asked me not to say anything.”

“But since Fabian is still here, I assume nothing has been done yet.”

“No.”

James was about to say something, when they were disturbed by someone running down the corridor shouting “Where is she?”

“Who?” Mrs Cordwell asked.

“Alice,” the man snapped.  James recognised him as being Foster, the tutor whose movements they intended following up.

“Why are you looking for her?” James asked.

“Because I need to speak to her,” Foster said, “that should be obvious even to our police force.”

“I am in the middle of a murder enquiry,” James replied.  “If she is missing, it might be relevant.”

“Oh, she’s missing alright.  She’s packed and left.”

James turned back to Mrs Cordwell.  “I think it would be best if we looked into this.”  He called Tomlinson over; Foster’s shouts had brought her out of the lecture room.  “Go up and take a look at the room, see if there’s any sign of why she’s left.”

A couple of minutes later, James’ phone rang.  He glanced at it and saw the caller display said it was Tomlinson.  He answered it immediately.

“You’d better come up here, sir.”

James was already part way up the stairs before she’d finished speaking.  She let him into the room as soon as he knocked and pointed towards the ensuite bathroom.

Cautiously James opened the bathroom door.  The body of Fabian Meier was in the shower.  From the blood on the bathroom floor it looked as though he had been stabbed and then pushed into the shower so the bathroom door could be closed.

“Call the station,” James said.  “I’ll contact Inspector Maguire.”


	4. Day Four

James groaned as he got out of bed the following morning.  It didn’t feel more than ten minutes since he’d collapsed in it after the events of the previous day.  He stumbled into the shower, barely registering Robbie’s shouted ‘I’m cooking you some breakfast which you will eat before you go out.’

When he emerged from the bathroom, feeling cleaner if not refreshed, he heard Robbie saying, “That’s fine, John.  I’ll let him know.”

He headed downstairs, and Robbie handed him his phone.  “That was John Garrett.  I hope you don’t mind me answering your phone.  I could see who it was,” Robbie said.  James shook his head; Garrett would be happy to leave a message with Robbie instead of an impersonal one on the answer phone.  “He wants a joint meeting in his office at 8 o’clock.  He’s been liaising with his Met counterpart and it appears there have been developments at their end, too.”

James glanced at the clock, and Robbie added, “Which gives you time to eat your breakfast.”

When James reached the station he headed to his own office.  He worked his way through the emails which had arrived overnight before going to Garrett’s office for the meeting.  He was surprised to see he was the last one to arrive but then reasoned Maguire and Kowalski had probably come straight from their hotel.  Tomlinson must also have gone straight there, and he resolved to have a word with her to suggest that she should have gone to their office first.

Presumably Garrett saw his expression because he said, “I asked Tomlinson to give me a hand.  She’s faster than I am with data searches and there were certain things I needed before we began this morning.”

“Of course, sir.”  If he’d thought about it, he would have known Tomlinson wouldn’t have behaved in that fashion without a good reason.  It was a reminder to him that he was tired and perhaps should take a little longer to think, rather than jumping to snap conclusions.

Garrett explained two of the men Maguire and her team had been following had been arrested in London the previous afternoon.  Although it was theoretically possible they could have been involved in the murder of Fabian Meier, the timing and the circumstances of their arrest made it extremely unlikely.  The third man, however, was still at large.

Maguire exclaimed, “I’ve heard nothing about this, sir.”  James could see her annoyance at the failure to keep her informed.

“I only learnt about it this morning,” Garrett said.  “From what was said to me, or rather, what wasn’t said, there’s been a serious breakdown in communication within the Met.”

Maguire looked about to say something else, but Garrett’s attitude dissuaded her.  He continued, “Tomlinson, could you pass round the pages you downloaded this morning, please?”

Tomlinson handed round the papers, and they all looked at them.

“This one,” James pointed at a grainy picture of a young man in his early twenties, looks rather like Foster.

“That’s what I thought, sir,” Tomlinson said.

“Yes,” Garrett interjected.  “It would appear that Foster was involved with some London language schools about fifteen years ago.  Ones which subsequently closed in somewhat dubious circumstances.”

“And who then appears in Oxford possibly engaged in similar activities to before,” James said thoughtfully. 

“Is there any indication of what form his involvement took?” Maguire asked.

“There was nothing specific and definitely nothing he could be charged with.  He would have passed a DBS check without any problem,” Garrett said.

“I still don’t understand why the language school would employ him if they had any knowledge of his past,” Tomlinson said.  “There must be plenty of people who would have applied for the job.”

“I just wonder how scrupulous the school was in their recruitment process and whether there was more to Foster’s engagement than is immediately apparent,” James said.  “According to Mrs Cordwell she had spoken to their head office at the beginning of the week about Fabian Meier’s activities, and yet nothing had been done.”

“Who exactly owns the school?” Maguire asked.  “Tomlinson, would you be able to find out for us?  The practices are similar to a couple of the language schools we’ve been investigating in London.”  She wrote a phone number on a piece of paper and passed it to Tomlinson.  “Ask for Myra Sharma.  If you tell her you’re phoning on my behalf, and why, she should be able to help you.”

Tomlinson took the paper and departed to make the phone call.

“There’s been no sightings of Alice Webber since she left the school yesterday,” Garrett continued.  “From the post mortem on Meier’s body it seems unlikely she was the one to stab him.  Laura says the direction of the stab wounds mean whoever did it must have been taller than Meier, and Webber was about the same height.  She must have left either at the time of his death or shortly after, since she took all her belongings from the room, but didn’t touch anything in the bathroom.”

“Is it possible?” Kowalski began tentatively.

“Carry on,” Garrett replied.

“Is it possible Alice Webber left before Meier was killed for some reason and someone else packed her possessions?”

“It was Alice’s afternoon off,” James said thoughtfully.  “She wasn’t due back on duty until late this morning.  I suppose she could have packed an overnight bag and someone else packed the rest of her belongings.”

“And the toiletries?” Garrett asked.

“She probably has travel bottles, which would take up less room in her bag,” Maguire replied.  “But if she’s not involved, I can’t think of a good reason why hasn’t she got in contact with us.”

“Unless she’s got a second phone,” Kowalski said.  “There’s been nothing in the news, so the only way she would have heard is by phone.”

“So essentially, we’ve got the work phone number, which she’s switched off, perhaps understandably if she wants a break from the past few days, but she has a personal phone as well,” James said.

“No-one’s spoken to her parents yet, have they?” Maguire asked.  She searched through the papers for Alice’s contact details and dialled a number.  As soon as she answered it she said, “Hello, is that Mrs Webber?  My name’s DI Maguire and I’m working with the Oxford Constabulary.  We need to contact Alice urgently, and we don’t have the right phone number, could you give it to me?”

There was a pause and Garrett said, “If there’s a problem, tell them to call 101 and ask for DCI John Garrett.  I’ll tell the control room to expect the call.”

Maguire relayed the information as instructed whilst Garrett contacted the control room.  Shortly afterwards, Garrett’s phone rang.  He had a short conversation with Mrs Webber and wrote down the number which she gave to him, sliding it across to Maguire, who immediately rang it.

“Hello, Alice,” Maguire said, “I’m DI Maguire.  We’d like to talk to you as soon as possible.  Could you tell me where you are at the moment? … Thank you.  Do you remember DC Kowalski?  He’ll meet you at the railway station, so wait there for him.  There’s nothing to worry about, but we do need to ask you some questions.  Also don’t contact anyone from the language school at the moment.”

As Maguire finished speaking, Tomlinson returned to Garrett’s office.  Maguire took the offered piece of paper from her with a quick ‘thank you’.  Turning to Kowalski, she said, “Alice Webber is due into Oxford Railway Station in 15 minutes.  You need to meet her.”

Garrett added, “Tomlinson, go with Kowalski; he can explain what’s happened on the way.  And you might suggest to Alice she phone her mother, who will no doubt be worried about her.”

“Yes, sir.”

James saw a flash of annoyance cross Maguire’s face, but couldn’t understand where the problem lay.

“So it looks increasingly as though Alice had nothing to do with Meier’s death then,” James said once Tomlinson and Kowalski had left.

“She’s either a very good actress, or knew nothing,” Maguire agreed.

“According to her mother, Alice had told her she wasn’t to give out her second phone number to anyone, no matter what they said.  Ours wasn’t the first call asking for the number, which was why the mother was suspicious.”

“So someone’s been harassing her.  Foster perhaps?” James said.

“We may find out when we interview her,” Garrett answered.  “I’d like Tomlinson to conduct the interview, and Hathaway you sit in with her.”

“Sir, I’d like to conduct the interview,” Maguire said.  “I think Alice Webber knows more about what’s been going on than she’s said.”

Garrett looked at her, and then said, “I want Tomlinson to take the lead.  Hathaway will be there in case there’s something she misses.  We can review the statement afterwards and if necessary follow up questions can be asked.”

James watched the exchange between Garrett and Maguire with some surprise.  There was clearly something going on which he wasn’t a party to.

When Tomlinson and Kowalski arrived at the police station with Alice, James went down to meet them and explain about the interview.  As he had been leaving Garrett’s office the DCI had asked Maguire a question delaying her own departure.  James had a feeling this had been a deliberate move on Garrett’s part.

Alice confirmed she had left Oxford at lunchtime the previous day, taking an overnight bag with her.  She knew she shouldn’t have gone without telling the police, but she’d been desperate to get away from everything and hadn’t thought anyone would notice she’d been away.  She had stayed with a friend from university who was living in Birmingham and who she was sure would provide her with an alibi.

James and Tomlinson left Alice sitting in the interview room whilst they went to confer with Garrett and Maguire.  They found Garrett alone in his office.

“Alice has admitted she didn’t tell us the truth as to her whereabouts the morning when Fischer’s body was discovered.  She should have been with the group, overseeing them as they prepared for the garden tour, but she’d wandered away,” James told Garrett.  “She was finding dealing with a group of teenagers who weren’t as keen to learn as she’d expected rather difficult, and she wanted a few more minutes’ peace.  Foster told her he would vouch that she was with the group providing she did the same for him.  And, stupidly, she agreed.”

There was a knock on Garrett’s office door, and Maguire came in.  “Sorry to disturb you, sir, but I’ve just learnt that the two men who were arrested yesterday have been released on bail.”

“Do you anticipate they will return to Oxford?” Garrett asked.

“I think it’s quite likely.  There’s going to be a discrete tail put on them in the hope they lead us to the third member of the group.”

“It would seem appropriate for you to continue with this side of the enquiry, which I assume you will be happy to do.”

Maguire nodded.

“In the meantime, we have further enquiries to be made at the language school.  I trust you have no problems with Kowalski assisting Inspector Hathaway for the moment.”

“No, sir.  Not at all.”  Maguire smiled, and James noticed the tension between her and Garrett seemed to have dissipated.

Maguire left, and Garrett turned his attention back to James.  “I presume you don’t want Alice to go back to the language school yet.”

“Actually, sir, unless you have any strong objections, we would like her to go back.  Tomlinson will accompany Alice and will remain with her, so she will be quite safe.  Meanwhile, I can have a further conversation with Foster because I am convinced he knows more than he is letting on.  And if Kowalski is with us he can see if he can find where Alice’s belongings have been hidden.  It seems unlikely anyone could have taken them very far in the time before Meier’s body was found, and anyone carrying a large bag would have been quickly noticed afterwards.”

“Very good,” Garrett said.  “In which case please go ahead.  And don’t forget to keep me updated with anything you find.”

“Of course not, sir.”  James felt slightly affronted Garrett felt the need to say something to him in that respect, but the smile he received gave him the impression it was in no way a personal comment.

When they left Garrett’s office James told Tomlinson to collect Alice and explain to her what would be happening.

“She’ll have to move into another room,” Tomlinson said.  “Are you happy for me to help her do so?”

“That would be ideal.  I don’t want her disturbed unnecessarily, but I would like to know who tries to speak to her.  There has to be a reason why Meier was killed in her room, and since no-one seems to have known she was planning on going away, it can’t have been chosen by chance.”

James nodded to Tomlinson and turned down the corridor to his own office, where he found Kowalski waiting for him.

Kowalski stood up as James came in and James said, “Right, we’re off again.”  He picked up his jacket from the back of his chair, and as an afterthought grabbed the umbrella he’d pushed into one of the desk drawers since it looked as though it was going to rain again.  He left the office, with Kowalski following him.  “How many bags do you suppose would have been needed to pack all Alice’s belongings?” he asked as they walked along.

Kowalski thought and then said, “Two, maybe three suitcases.  When my wife and I moved we just threw a lot of clothing into bin bags.  It made it easier to shove everything into the back of the van we’d borrowed.”

“So we could be looking for bin bags rather than suitcases.  It would also have been quicker to shove things into bags rather than get them into cases.  There’s still the question of what happened to the suitcases, whether or not they were full.”

“If her parents had brought her to Oxford at the start of the job, then she wouldn’t necessarily have had lots of cases.  Some stuff could have come loose.  Or her mother may have lent her a case and taken it home again.”

“True.  So what I’d like you to concentrate on is finding Alice’s possessions.  If you find any stray cases, that would be a bonus, but in the meantime, assume they’re in bin bags.”

“Yes, sir.”

James drove them to the language school, dropping Kowalski off at the bottom of the drive so he could hunt for Alice’s possessions outside without drawing undue attention to himself.  The other three entered the main building together.

Many of the students had congregated in the common room which overlooked the drive; they had obviously seen the police arrive, for a number hurried into the entrance hall.  James watched their expressions; a few of the girls were clearly pleased to see Alice back whilst some of the other students showed nothing but curiosity.  He also spotted one student slip away and run up the main stairs.

Mrs Cordwell came into the hall, the relief on her face at seeing Alice evident.  “Are you okay?” she asked.

James answered, “Alice is fine, although a little shaken at the turn of events.  She’s going to need another room.  Can you organise that for her?”

“Of course, I’ll do that at once.”

“Do you want any help?” one of the girls asked.

“I’ll give Alice a hand for the moment,” Tomlinson replied, “but I’m sure she’ll be happy to see you in a bit.”

Alice nodded to them, and she and Tomlinson followed Mrs Cordwell along the corridor.

James wasn’t surprised to see Foster come down the stairs; he had assumed the student had gone to tell him of Alice’s return.

“Where’s she been?” Foster demanded.  He looked round, trying to locate her.  He made to follow after her, but James stood in his way.

“I’d like to ask you some more questions, please sir,” James said.

“Not now.  I need to speak to Alice.”

“I think you’ll find my questions have priority,” James replied.  “And if you don’t want to answer them here, then we can always go down to the station.”

Foster looked as if he was going to object, but at that moment, Kowalski appeared, carrying two large bin bags.

“What are you doing with those?” Foster demanded sharply.

James ignored him, and said to Kowalski, “I presume they’re what we were looking for?”

“Yes, sir!”

Foster lunged forward trying to reach the bags.  Kowalski tried to pull them away, but Foster grabbed one of the bags, which ripped, causing the contents to start to spill over the floor.

A number of pastel coloured t-shirts tumbled out, followed by a knife which became visible as it unwrapped from a blood stained cloth.  Two of the girls screamed.

Foster bent down to pick up the knife, but Kowalski barrelled into him, pushing him backwards and into James.  James grabbed Foster’s arms to give Kowalski time to apply his handcuffs.

“You’re making a mistake!” Foster shouted.  “I had nothing to do with it!”

James read Foster his rights and then asked Kowalski to take the man to the car, where he could wait until a uniformed officer could drive him to the station. 

The screams had brought a couple of other members of staff into the entrance hall, and James saw Tomlinson and Mrs Cordwell had also returned, with Alice following behind them.

“You all need to move out of here,” James said.

Two of the older students started to encourage the others back into the common room, and then Mrs Cordwell called some of those who seemed too stunned to move to go to her.  Half-dazed, the students followed her instructions.

One of the tutors said, “Shall we clear this up?” indicating the contents of the bag which lay strewn across the floor.

“Leave everything exactly where it is,” James snapped.  “And go and join the students in the common room.”  Turning to the other tutor, he said, “Are all the students here?”

“Some of them went outside earlier.  They would have gone to the tennis courts,” the man replied.

“In which case I imagine they’ll be coming in very shortly,” James replied.  “It’s just started to rain.  Is there another entrance they can use?”

“Yes, there’s a door from the games room at the back.  But they’ll need to come through here to get to the common room.”

“In which case, go and find them and get them to stay in the games room.”  The man didn’t make a move, so James added, “Now!”

James waited for SOCO and some of the uniformed police to arrive.  Then, leaving one officer specifically with Alice whilst the others stayed with the students, he and Tomlinson drove back to the station.  There they went straight to the interview room, where Foster had been left to wait for them.

James began the interview by asking Foster why he had been so anxious to speak to Alice the day before.

“I overheard Alice asking Fabian Meier to meet her in her room.  This was clearly against the rules, but I didn’t want to get her in trouble, so I planned to have a quiet work with her.”

“Were you jealous?” James interrupted.

“Well, I suppose a little.  Meier was scarcely more than a child.  I had much more to offer her.  Anyway, when I knocked on her door that afternoon, there was no reply.  So I opened the door slightly and saw she’d taken her possessions and left.”

“So you came running down looking for her?”

“Obviously, I didn’t know what had happened, but I was going to offer to help her in any way I could.”

“I see.  And what time was it when you heard Miss Webber asking Fabian Meier to come to her room?”

“It was after lunch.”

“You’re sure about that?”

“Definitely.”  James watched Foster lean back, apparently confident in what he’d said.

“So can you explain how Miss Webber managed to be on a train at that time?”

“I think, Inspector, you will find she is lying.”

“And I think, Mr Foster, you will find we have proof she is telling the truth.”  James watched as his words sank in.  Alice had shown them her card receipt for the lunch she’d bought at the railway station café and to which she would only have had access once she’d gone through the ticket barrier.

“I must have got the time wrong.  Maybe it wasn’t after lunch, but late morning.”  Foster looked directly at James.

“And why did you open Miss Webber’s door when you were looking for her in the afternoon?  Surely most people would assume if there was no reply when they knocked that there was no-one in the room.  Or did you make a habit of looking in her room?”

Foster spluttered, and said, “I knew something was wrong and I wanted to help her.”

“I’m sorry, how did you know there was something wrong?”

“Since she had cleared all her possessions from her room, there had to be something wrong.”

“But you couldn’t have known that before you opened her door.”

“I was told about it.”

Tomlinson asked quietly, “If you knew the room was empty why did you expect to find her there?”

Foster looked from James to Tomlinson.  “I suppose I couldn’t believe it, so went to check.”

“So, did you go to check, or were you going to offer help and then surprised to find the room empty?”

“I’m not sure.  It’s all been too horrible.  I really don’t remember now.”

“I don’t suppose whoever told you also mentioned Fabian Meier’s dead body lying on the bathroom floor, did they?” James asked.

“Meier’s body was in the shower,” Foster replied.

“I see.  Did you see the body, or were you just told this?”

“You told us that yourself.”

“No, what I said was that Fabian Meier had been found dead, and we were, therefore, cordoning off Miss Webber’s room.  There was no mention of exactly where his body was left.  So, either you saw the body or someone told you, and I’d like to know who it was.”

“I can’t remember.  I was just concerned for Alice.”

“Mr Foster, I put it to you that you, or possibly somebody with you, killed Fabian Meier, and then you packed all Miss Webber’s possessions, seeking to imply she was involved.  I think you believed Miss Webber knew something which might implicate you and you intended to get her out of the way, maybe before your associate killed her, too.  Your plan backfired when Miss Webber didn’t appear that afternoon, and you couldn’t find where she had gone.”

“I couldn’t let anything happen to Alice.”

“Would you care to elaborate?”

Foster paused before saying, “I’d like a solicitor present.”

James nodded, and leaving Foster with a uniformed officer, he and Tomlinson left the interview room.

As they headed back to their office they met Maguire who greeted them with a broad grin.

“It looks as if you have good news for us,” James said.

“Yep!  We caught up with the two who were released this morning.  They must have been rattled because they had come straight back to Oxford to meet the third member of the gang.  He’s now been arrested on suspicion of Meier’s murder.  I just hope we can find enough evidence to formally charge him.”

“Well, Foster has now admitted he knows rather more about events than he originally maintained,” James replied.  “My guess is he found himself rather deeper in than he intended and started to panic.  He’s asked for a solicitor, so we shall see what the outcome of their discussion is.”

James returned to his office, and had just asked Tomlinson if she could nip out and grab him a sandwich when he felt his phone vibrate.  He looked at the display and held up his hand to stop Tomlinson from leaving. 

“Yes, Kowalski?” he said.  He listened to what the DC had to tell him and then grinned as broadly as Maguire had.  “Excellent news.  We’ll see you back here shortly.”

“They’ve found Alice’s suitcase in the boot of Foster’s car,” he told Tomlinson.  “We’ll let Foster talk to his solicitor, and then we can continue with his interview.  I shall be interested to hear his explanation.”

An hour later, James and Tomlinson were told Foster was ready to talk to them.  They returned to the interview room, and Foster explained that his concern for Alice, who he now remembered speaking to Meier in the morning, had led him to look in her room.  There he had discovered that her possessions had all gone.  Knowing that Meier’s body had not been in the main room, he had concluded it must have been in the shower, as there wouldn’t be space enough for a body anywhere else.

“Do you have anything else to add?” James asked.

“I tried to phone Alice, and when I couldn’t get through, I found her parents’ number and contacted them, but they refused to pass my message on.  I realise that was unprofessional of me, but I was desperate to speak to her.”

“And could you tell me why Miss Webber’s suitcase was found in the boot of your car?”

Foster looked towards his solicitor, who remained impassive, but James could tell this was news to her as well.  “Okay,” Foster said eventually, “I admit Alice knew too much.  My intention had been to threaten her with what would happen if she told anyone and then take her away and hide her.  I told the truth when I said I intended to protect her.”

“Did you kill Fabian Meier?”

“No!”

“Who did?”

Foster looked across at his solicitor again, who said, “I assume a note will be made that my client has co-operated fully.”

“Assuming he does.”

Foster nodded.  He took a deep breath and began to provide the details James wanted.

***

Later that afternoon, James said goodbye to Maguire and Kowalski, who were heading back to London.  Once they had left, he went to see DCI Garrett to confirm what still needed to be done from their end.

“Come in, James,” Garrett called.  “I’ve spoken to my opposite number and we’re agreed that Maguire will prepare the case against all three of the gang regarding Fischer’s murder.  It seems clear he killed Anna Bauer, although we may never know exactly what drove him to do so.”

“And what about Fabian Meier’s killer?”

“That one will stay with us.  You believe Foster when he says he didn’t have anything physically to do with the murder?”

“Yes.  Meier was trying to blackmail Foster, who turned to Martinson for help.  I can’t decide whether he genuinely thought Martinson would simply beat Meier up, or whether he knew he would kill him.  I’m sure he didn’t witness the act, although he certainly helped clear up.  And that was why he was so concerned about getting Alice Webber away because he knew she would be in danger.”

“Yet you tell me Alice didn’t know anything incriminating.”

“She knew Foster hadn’t been with the group when he said he was, but had assumed that he, like her, had just wanted to get away from all the noisy students for a short while.”

“And how did Meier come to be in Alice’s room since she obviously hadn’t invited him there?”

“Foster says he told Meier that the school authorities had been told about his drug taking but that if Meier met Foster and Alice in her room, they could come to some arrangement to prevent him being sent home.”

“I think there’s more to all this than meets the eye, and I want you and Tomlinson to look into this further.  The three men we have in custody are only part of a gang, and the Met are convinced there is more to their activities than dealing in missing students.  It may well be that drugs are involved as well.”

“Yes, sir.  We’ll get onto it at once.”

“Tomorrow will be time enough.  I suggest you and Tomlinson finish for today and then carry on with it all in the morning.”

“Thank you, sir.”  James left Garrett’s office and went to tell Tomlinson it was time to go home.

When he did so, Tomlinson stood up and stretched.  “That’s good news,” she said, “I can feel a bottle of wine calling me.”

James laughed.  “You’re not the only one.”

He sent Robbie a text to warn him he was on his way and then drove home. 

When he opened the front door he could smell a Bolognese sauce simmering and hear Robbie singing to himself in the kitchen.

Clearly Robbie had heard the door open, for he called out, “Ready in five minutes!”

James went upstairs to get changed and reached the dining table just as Robbie served out.

“You look satisfied,” Robbie said.

“Yes,” James replied.  “All things considered, today’s been a good day.”

 


End file.
